Former President Goodluck Jonathan has criticised the practice of selecting political leaders in Nigeria based on religion, ethnicity, language and other narrow considerations, warning that the country will continue to struggle with development unless merit and competence become the major criteria for leadership recruitment.
Jonathan said Nigeria must abandon what he described as primitive methods of choosing political leaders, stressing that the country’s development prospects would remain limited if leadership positions continued to be influenced by religious and ethnic affiliations rather than ability and qualification.
The former president made the remarks on Saturday at the Herbert Macaulay Colloquium held in Lagos to commemorate the 162nd anniversary of the birth of the nationalist pioneer.
Herbert Macaulay, born on November 14, 1864, is widely regarded as one of the founding figures of Nigerian nationalism.
Speaking at the event, Jonathan lamented that religious considerations had become deeply entrenched in Nigeria’s political leadership selection process, with some communities allegedly restricting political opportunities to members of particular religious denominations.
He said, “We are still suffering from political leaders being recruited based on religion, language and all kinds of things. Sometimes it is even beyond Muslim or Christian. I know of a particular state in southern Nigeria that 99.9 per cent of them are Christians. But if you don’t belong to one particular denomination, you cannot be the governor of the state.
“That is the kind of thing we do. So no matter how good you are, until we move away from these primitive ways of recruiting political leaders, this country cannot go.”
Jonathan identified poor leadership, weak institutions, corruption, policy inconsistency, inadequate infrastructure and insecurity as some of the major challenges undermining Nigeria’s development.
He also called for comprehensive democratic reforms, describing the country’s current democratic arrangement as “opaque and amorphous”.
According to him, Nigeria must strengthen its democratic institutions and embrace principles that guarantee popular participation, the rule of law, respect for human rights, judicial independence, accountability, political pluralism and an active civil society.
The former president further emphasised the importance of functional education and research-driven universities in building a competitive economy and promoting technological advancement.
Citing India, Singapore and South Korea as examples of countries that had recorded significant development through investments in education, Jonathan said Nigeria must prioritise the development of its educational institutions.
“You can’t go anywhere with weak educational institutions,” he said.
He added that the country must deliberately invest in its brightest minds and establish world-class universities capable of producing the research, innovation and technological expertise required to compete globally.
Jonathan also paid tribute to Herbert Macaulay and other Nigerian nationalist pioneers, noting that their contributions to the country’s political development should inspire a renewed commitment to nation-building.
He stressed that the greatest tribute Nigeria could pay to its founding nationalists was not merely to celebrate their sacrifices but to build a country that reflected the ideals, values and aspirations for which they fought.